High Plains Drifters: A Thanksgiving Jackpot

The High Plains Drifters (our Southwestern nom de blog) brought the song lyrics, “Over the river and through the woods. . .” to life on Thanksgiving morning. 



Tossing aside the traditional holiday falderal, we set out – for the first time ever - on a winter road trip. We headed for America’s Southwest on a 1,628 mile route that would take us from Washington State, across Oregon and a tip of Idaho, into Nevada, Utah and to our destination, Arizona.

Winter road trips through this area of the country require bi-polar packing: flip-flops, shorts, and suntan lotion in the suitcases that sit next to tire chains, snow boots, gloves and window scrapers in the car’s trunk.

We were prepared for winter’s potentially worst driving conditions and were pleasantly surprised to find the only ‘snowy conditions’ were on the trees and roadside on Washington’s Snoqualmie Pass (top photo).

It was sunshine and blue skies as we crossed the Columbia River and entered Oregon country.



Crossing Oregon’s Blue Mountains (this photo at the summit) was a snap. Traveling on Thanksgiving Day made for virtually no traffic. . .we did pass a group of wild turkeys standing along the roadside, showing off, we think,  for having avoided the platter for another year.

Our route through central Oregon was flanked with the Wallowa Mountain range in the distance to our left and the Blue Mountains (pictured) to our right.

Day 1: Was a bottom-buster:  11 hours and 693 miles.  Subsequent days we allowed ourselves a bit more sightseeing, fewer miles and less hours in the car. 

We reached our destination: Jackpot, Nevada – a wide spot in the road just south of the Idaho border, with four casinos, three hotels and a service station at 6:45 p.m. our time; 7:45 p.m. by the Mountain Time they follow here.The casino/hotel we’d hoped to stay in was sold out – luckily the place across the street, Barton’s Club 93  had rooms ($57 a night)and food. 




We could have had the traditional turkey either as a plated meal or from the buffet.  But we’d already thrown tradition aside. . .

. . . so we opted to hit the Thanksgiving Jackpot with chicken fried steak platters!

Hope you’ll come back for Day II of the winter road trip – we’ll be leaving early tomorrow so pack your bag and join us!

WAWeekend: Autumn in the Islands

The ‘sea breeze’ was more an icy wind that made us stuff our hands into coat pockets for warmth. Evening came silently, as we stood at the end of the deserted marina dock, a usual summertime hub of activity. 

On this night we were alone watching a sunset that was not the red blaze for which San Juan Island is known, but a calming  autumnal palate of pastels.. 

It had been several years since our travel compass had pointed us in the direction of the San Juan Islands, to the north of Seattle. Like so many travelers, we are guilty of taking the close-to-home wonders for granted.

In 2011 the San Juans were ranked the #2 place to visit in the world by the The New York Times and the #3 best place for a summer visit by National Geographic.

There are many from which to choose, San Juan, Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw, perhaps better known than Blakely, Decatur, Stuart, Waldron and a myriad of other small islands that make up the group.

They are close enough to Seattle (about a 90 minute drive to Anacortes, the city from where the ferries depart) that it is possible to do it in a day or overnight trip, but by giving ourselves two nights on San Juan Island we had time to explore its west coast and southern tip, both places we’d never visited.


We drove the two-lane paved road that loops through forested areas and emerges to stunning views out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca.



We had the road to ourselves on this crisp Friday morning in early November. In the summer months we’d have been watching for bikers on this popular route, but on this day we were able to concentrate on Mother Nature’s handiwork.

If You Go:

Getting Around: Took our car on the ferry so didn’t need to rent one although they are available on the island.  Our cost (car, driver and passenger was $55 round-trip).

Eating: Restaurants abound in Friday Harbor. We ate some fine pub grub at Herb’s Bar,  which claims to be the oldest operating bar in town.

Accommodations:  Click this link San Juan Chamber of Commerce for information.
Not to be missed: Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm (and products store), Pelendaba Lavender farm, and San Juan Vineyards

Thanks for visiting today. Hope to see you on Travel Tuesday. If you’ve not yet subscribed to receive these posts in your inbox, you can do so using the box in the upper right corner; or click the link a bit lower to become a follower and receive this in your reading list. Happy Travels!

TPThursday: Travel Guilt or Gratitude?

Thanksgiving Day is being celebrated throughout the United States today with traditional acts of gluttony and, hopefully, with some time spent on gratitude (the day’s original purpose).

We are bypassing the culinary gluttony this year for. . . What else? Travel gluttony.  So, as I was stuffing our bags instead of a turkey, I was thinking about how grateful I am for the freedom and ability to travel as well as the joy it brings.

I recalled a passage from Paul Theroux’s  book, “Pillars of Hercules”.  Thanksgiving seemed the perfect day to share it with you:

“Did the traveler, doing no observable work,


                             (Early morning Milano, Italy’s train station)

freely moving among settled, serious people, get a pang of conscience? 

                             (Afternoon Bologna, Italy)

                           (Evening Cetona, Italy)

I told myself that writing – this effort of observation – absolved me from any guilt;

                             (Squero di San Trovaso, one of Venice’s few remaining gondola workshops)

but of course that was just a feeble excuse.

                              (Wine store in Venice, Italy)

This was pleasure.

                         (A piazza in Milano, Italy)

No guilt, just gratitude.”

Happy Thanksgiving ~ we are grateful to all of you for stopping by on this Travel Photo Thursday. Remember to stop by Budget Travelers Sandbox for more armchair travel.

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Travel Tip Tuesday: Surprises and Savings in Amsterdam

We had an overnight stay in Amsterdam prompted by airline connections on our return from Italy. And, as once before, within hours of arriving were scolding ourselves for not allowing more time than the-less-than-24-hour ‘dash and glance’ we'd allowed ourselves.



But one reason we’ve shied away from extended stays in this picturesque place is that its hotels are expensive. For week’s prior to our arrival The Scout searched hotel booking sites and found triple-digit prices.

HOTEL TIP: We finally used Hotwire, the site that allows you to book a hotel for a significantly discounted price; you’ll select it by its general location, price and star-rating but you won’t know the exact hotel until your credit card has been charged.

Our travel friends, Mary and Greg, have sung its praises for some time and we’d tried it once before – at their suggestion -- and were pleased with the results. This time was no exception.

We selected a four-star hotel within the geographical area of the train station and the city’s famous, Dam Square. . .



What we got was a treasure! We stayed in the  NH Doelen Hotel, the city’s oldest hotel sitting on the banks of the Amstel River in the heart of its historic district. Its who’s-who guests have included Queen Victoria, the Beatles and Rembrandt, the latter who  painted his famous, “Night Watch” here.



We were within easy walking distance of Rembrandt Square, the Jewish Historical Museum and the colorful flower market. Our room, while not overlooking the river, was spacious and the bed comfortable. Free WI-FI was provided, although despite my best attempts we couldn’t connect to it from our room .



GETTING AROUND:  We’d been ‘taken’ by the taxi that brought us to the hotel; the driver of the small van charged the two of us (we learned too-late) a four-person 19.5 euro rate for the short drive.  So, the next morning the hotel folks called a driver they use:

Enter Maarten de Grunt, in his Mercedes. He whisked us to the station (pointing out sites along the way – he spoke perfect English) and dropped us at the entry nearest the tracks – a real plus in this rain-drenched city.  The cost?  9.8 euro, half the prior day’s toll.

So good was Maarten, that we plan to contact him prior to our next stop in Amsterdam so that we can use his services during our stay.  For that matter I wanted to tell all of you about him!   Once you let him know your arrival time by sending an email or making an on-line reservation,  he’ll monitor your flight and be waiting  (whether it be the train station or the airport). Maarten is also available for full blown tours.

If  You Go:

Ground Transportation: Maarten de Grunt, owner ‘De grunt personenvervoer’, email: m.grunt@chello.nl, phone: 0031 6 43259424, website: www.degruntpersonenvervoer.nl

Hotel NH Doelen, www.nh-hotels.nl, location Nieuwe Doelenstraat, 26.

Hotwire, www.hotwire.com (Our room cost about $150US ; booked directly with the hotel it would have cost about $225).

Thanks for stopping by today, hope to see you back here again on Travel Photo Thursday; the day armchair travel takes flight in the blogosphere.

WAWeekend: Sailing those Tall Ships

Sails unfurled, the boom of cannons re-echoed in the distance from Lake Washington.  We could hear and see from our Kirkland home, the battle – mock, of course –  each afternoon of September’s sunny Labor Day weekend.

Washington's Tall Ships were in town.

If you’ve never seen the Tall Ships,  -- Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain -- owned and operated by the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport in Aberdeen, you are missing a treat.  They can be found traveling the Pacific Coastline from British Columbia to California, stopping at ports like Kirkland, along the way.

The Hawaiian Chieftain, is a replica of the ships used by European merchants and is similar to those sailed by the Spanish off the Western Coast of the United States.

The Hawaiian Chieftain, built of steel in 1988, was purchased by Gray’s Harbor Historical Seaport in 2004 and now accompanies. . .

The Lady Washington which was built in Aberdeen and launched in March 1989.  The ship is a full scale reproduction of the original 1750’s Lady Washington – the first American vessel to make landfall on the West Coast of North America.



The best part about these ships is that the public can buy tickets to tour the vessels or sail on them while they make their guest appearances up and down the West Coast. And if you are really into tall ships there are a variety of volunteer opportunities available as well.

The ships can be rented  for charters, group tours and education programs – and if you are making a movie and need a tall ship, well, give them a call.



To Sail On The Tall Ships:

You can often find the ships in their home port in Aberdeen but with their heavy tour schedule, it is best to plan ahead and see if they will be there or not during your visit. To check their sailing schedule and locations -  and to buy tickets - visit the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport website.

Mama Mia! Mealtime Magic with Anna Maria!

It was, by far, the most memorable meal we had in Italy; in fact, the most memorable we’ve had in some time.  And we attribute it to the serendipity of circumstances that can so unexpectedly happen when you travel. . .

It was the night we met Anna Maria Monari; the night we experienced Trattoria Anna Maria.



The serendipity began weeks before our Italian trip. I’d written, BolognaWelcome, the  city’s tourism site for some information. 

Enter Giorgia Zabbini, (pictured to the left). She works for the Municipality’s tourism office and became our source of information both before and during our visit.



She was guiding us on a winding path through the city’s famous arcades, when several blocks from the tourist-filled 13th Century Piazza Maggiorri, she stopped before an unmarked store front so that we could note the pasta being made inside.

The ladies were more than gracious in granting my request to photograph them as they kneaded and rolled out pounds of pasta, that we learned would later be served to diners at Trattoria Anna Maria.

Anna Maria’s is one of those places that all the locals know about – the kind of place that serves ‘real authentic Bolognese food’ Giorgia said, adding that we ‘might want to try it’ while in town.

 Understatement! Within minutes we we at the restaurant securing  reservations for the next night. . .

Mama Mia! That’s when the fun began! 

We’d hoped to meet Anna Maria  as she made the rounds that evening, chatting with guests, checking on customer satisfaction – as she does each evening.  But what we didn’t expect was a full-blown visit with her.

We’d barely been seated when Laura Bizzari, (on the left in the photo above) introduced herself and said that Anna Maria would join us shortly and Laura would serve as our translator.



The wine was poured. The antipasti plate with omelet squares, bruschetta and mortadello (the meat for which Bologna is famous) arrived and we met this delightful 72-year-old restaurant owner.

Trattoria Anna Maria began 24 years ago in a smaller location a few blocks from its present site. Back then, Anna Maria was both waitress and chef, serving menu items created from her mother’s recipes.

The restaurant may have changed locations, but recipes have stayed the same.  Tortelloni en brodo, those wonderful stuffed pasta pockets served in broth was our first, ‘first’ course.  It, like the pasta used in lasagne, tortellini, and the long thin strands of tagliattelli, is hand-made daily by the ladies pictured above. (They had used 136 eggs the day we visited – which should give you an idea of quantities produced each day).

Our second ‘first course’ was tagliattelli in Bolognese, the famous meat sauce of the area. My mouth waters at the memory of these thin, near-translucent noodles that melted in our mouths.

Anna Maria sources as many of the products as she can from nearby farms and producers. She’s worked with some of them for years and was practicing that culinary ‘farm-to-table’ philosophy long before  it became trendy.

Yes, this lasagne was the third ‘first course’ and I hate to admit that it was so good that I forgot I was taking photos of each course until half way through it.  We did declare a stop after this and didn’t sample any of the items on the extensive ‘segundi’ or second, main course list. (Okay in full disclosure, we shared a home-made gelato and fruit for dessert.)

The restaurant was jam-packed by the time we left, several hours after our arrival.  Anna Maria was making her rounds, obviously enjoying her guests. Her earlier comment, when we’d asked about retirement plans, came to mind: 

“I am here every day.  Where else do I have to go? This is the party.  . .Mama Mia!”

If You Go: Trattoria Anna Maria is at Via Belle Arti, 17/A, Bologna. Information at www.trattoriaannamaria.com Credit cards accepted and is English spoken.

In full disclosure: We didn’t know until we asked for the bill, that we were Anna Maria’s guests that evening.  That wasn’t our intention in going there.  (I will add that going back to this restaurant is high on our list of reasons to return to Bologna. The pastas were incredible.)

This is our contribution to Travel Photo Thursday.  You’ll find more photos at Budget Travelers Sandbox.

Living in Italy: Rethinking Life’s Routines

We ‘lived’ in Italy for a very short time this fall. Staying in apartments that allowed us to play house, we were able, for a brief moment, to experience what expats must when dealing with new cultures, customs and behaviors. 

We sampled this travel style last year in Spain and were eager to try it again in Italy.

Two apartments. Two cities. Two completely different experiences.  But each provided us an opportunity to re-think the routines of daily life.

Our first home was a warm, cozy place in Bologna,  where the owners had anticipated  our every need, right down to scotch tape and scissors.

 
Our Venice home was  functional, but lacked the warmth and charm of the first place. You can probably tell that  from the photos.

If you’ve ever lived – for however long – in another country you know that everything about daily life is sort of the same as the one you live back home, yet different.

Different, in visible ways,  like water-craft ambulances in Venice and gas stations to fill up your boat (photo below). 

Tasks as simple as turning on the dishwasher, washing machine, adjusting the heat, buying groceries and cooking, finding the ATM machine, even locking the front door were just enough different to require some thought about how to accomplish them.


Our first night in Venice, a bit tired, somewhat disappointed in the apartment and short-tempered, we thought we’d locked ourselves out of it because no amount of turning the key opened the door.
Why hadn’t we tried the lock before both of us stepped outside and shut it? How could  it be so impossibly difficult? we grumbled.

You  are probably thinking, wouldn’t it be much easier to stay in a hotel? For that matter, it would be easiest to stay home where those day-to-day routines require no thought whatsoever. 

But one of the great things about this type of travel is that it forces us to sometimes live on the edge of comfortable. 

It makes unlocking the front door a high-five accomplishment and  turns fresh bread, cheese, olives and a glass of wine – eaten ‘at home’ – into a feast.

It forces us to turn off life’s auto-pilot and rethink the art of living. It also makes us grateful for the familiarity of the home we return to after each trip. 

It’s a great way to take travel to a new level. We’ll do it again and would recommend it, but with reservations because it isn’t for everyone. 



On this Travel Tip Tuesday:  We recommend that before before booking such a stay, you ask yourself:
1.  Am I comfortable not having a front desk resource available 24/7 to answer questions, provide maps, and solve problems?  Can I figure out how to call for emergency response (medical, fire, police) if the need were to arise?
2.  Do I want to go grocery shopping and prepare some meals at home?
3.  Have I researched the area and the user reviews of the place enough to feel comfortable, if not eager, to book it?
4.  In case I find myself in a neighborhood where English isn’t prevalent, do I speak enough of the language to get by?
5.  Am I ready to live on the edge of comfortable and rethink the routines?

If You Go:  We booked both our apartments through the on line rental agency, Vacations to Go.  Another similar site is HomeAway.  Both these websites offer user reviews, but we often check TripAdvisor as well.

Have you ever traveled on the edge of comfortable? If so, where was it that made you re-think routine?

WAWeekend: An Autumn ‘Ferry’ Tale

We’d been back from Italy for a bit more than a week, the sun was shining, the air crisp and leaves were falling. On this picture-perfect Thursday morning, we said, “Carpe Diem!” and seized the day:  We were off to the ‘San Juans’  before morning’s end.

The San Juan islands are located between mainland Washington State and Canada’s Vancouver Island.
It’s been several years since we’ve visited any of them  – even though they are a mere 1.5 hour drive to Anacortes, the departure point for state ferries that serve those islands.  Then, less than a couple of hours of sailing to reach them.



We’d decided a night in Roche Harbor on the northwest side of San Juan Island wouldn’t be enough after we got there and quickly extended our stay for a second night. We couldn’t have been as spontaneous during the high season summer months. One advantage of off-season travel, in addition to lower room rates, is last-minute availability.



Friday Harbor, the gateway to the island for ferry passengers (either by car or on foot), is the only incorporated town in the entire San Juan County.  This town of 2,000+ residents is the county seat. Accommodations here range from a Best Western to mom-and-pop bed and breakfast operations.



Ferries usually zig-zag between the islands, but we lucked out and caught the one which sailed directly to Friday Harbor in an hour’s time.  It was a bone-chilling cold wind that blew us northward to this 55-square-mile island that lies closer to Canada than the United States. 

It was a 20 minute drive from the ferry dock to our  destination, the historic Hotel Haro built on the site of what was once the largest lime-manufacturing operation west of the Mississippi.

By giving ourselves and extra night we had time to explore this island quilted with local, state and federal parks.  It’s a biker, hiker, kayak-er paradise.  I’ll take you on a tour in  future posts as well as show you our room in this wonderfully creaky history-book of a hotel.

If You Go:
Off season is a good time to get reduced hotel rates.  Be sure to ask if amenities like on-site restaurants, bars and spas are open on the dates you plan to be there.  Find out how close the nearest eateries and watering holes are if not.

Washington State Ferries, schedule and fares, can be found at: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

Roche Harbor information: http://www.rocheharbor.com/Home.html

San Juan Island information can be found on the Chamber of Commerce site; click the “Visitors” link at: http://www.sanjuanisland.org/

For those of you waiting for the next dispatch from Italy, you’ll find it here Tuesday!  In the meantime, where would you go if you could shout, “Carpe Diem!” and set off on a spontaneous journey?